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Octet

Hutchins Consort Performs at Wolfeboro

Justice David Souter had planned to be present, but was

prevented by last minute duties in Washington. Some oldfriends were in evidence as well, including Bill Berman, well-known as the first to play the alto violin on his shoulder.

The evening began with a talk by Dr. Paul R. Laird of theUniversity of Kansas on the history of the octet and the new

family of violins. His presentation to the packed house wasinformative and well-received. Between Laird 's presentationand the start of the concert, Carleen Hutchins was introduced

to the crowd, which awarded her long and warm applause.

Hutchins used the occasion to announce plans for a one-million-dollar fund raising drive she said would makeWolfeboro the center of activities for the violin octet throughout

the world. Another round of applause ensued when she toldthe crowd, "I've waited forty years to hear this concert."

Now in its third season, the San Diego, California-basedHutchins Consort was making its first appearance in New

On the evening of September 20, 2003 the temperature insidethe All Saints Episcopal Church in Wolfeboro, NH was anunseasonably hot ninety degrees, but the people waiting to hear

the Hutchins Consort did not seem to mind. They queued up fortickets in a long line that stretched across the small lobby andout the door. In an effort to allow everyone to hear the concert,

which had been sold out several weeks in advance, attendeeswere seated in the aisles, the choir loft, the lobby, and on thelawn outside the open windows. Many in the audience had

traveled great distances to hear the Hutchins Consort, somefrom Connecticut, Colorado, Maine, South Dakota, New York,New Jersey, Oregon, and one from Belgium!

Members of the NVFA Board were in the audience, as werethree members of the Hutchins Consort Board of Directors who

had flown in from California, Sharon McNalley and Dr. and Mrs.Robert Burns. Carleen and Morton Hutchins were seated in thefront row. Among those in attendance were eight violin-making

students from Boston's North Bennett Street School who wereseated on the stage behind the performers.

Other attendees included Dr. Andre Larson, director of theNational Music Museum in Vermillion (SD) and Joseph Peknik,III, from the department of musical instruments at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Supreme Court

Vol. 2, No.1, Winter 2004

Violin

new voices for the 21st century

Newsletter of the New Violin Family Association

Photo by Ken Moore, Metropolitan Museum

see Consort, p. 15

"I've waited forty years to hear this concert."Carleen M. Hutchins

Interim President

R. J. Miller

Vice-President

Joseph F. Conrad II

Secretary

Margaret H. Sachter, Esq.

Treasurer

Charles D. Rooney, Jr.

Executive Director

Carleen M. Hutchins

Trustees

Francis Furlong

Daniel Heifetz

Godfrey Howard

Paul R. Laird

Andre Larson

Donald Joseph McNalley

Edith Munro

Joseph Peknik, III

F. Scott Ponicson

Pamela Proscia

D. Quincy Whitney

New Violin Family Association Newsletter2

Welcome!Before you is Violin Octet, only the second

newsletter of the New Violin Family

Association. It is the result of considerableeffort to create an informative and entertainingchronicle of the New Violin Family and the

luthiers, musicians, and composers the worldover who are working to promote them.

About This IssueMany of you know about the New Violin

Family Octet from the Catgut Acoustical

Society Journal, but a significant number of youare new to us and probably would like to knowa little more about the octet instruments, their

history, capabilities, and the people behind theirdevelopment. Many of the articles in this issueare intended to provide an overview of past

and present activities. We can't covereverything in one issue, so you can lookforward to articles in coming issues that go into

these and other areas in greater depth.

About the EditorAs your new editor I take my seat at the

desk with some amazement. I am really notsure how I got myself in this position, but others

who were at the board meeting told me Ivolunteered! I have been involved in violinmaking since the early 1970s when I studied

with Karl Roy in New Hampshire and withCarleen Hutchins in the infamous (andfamously underheated) garage at 112 Essex

Avenue in Montclair, NJ.

Letter From the Editor

Violin Octet Newsletter

published twice each year by

The New Violin Family Association,

Inc.

42 Taylor Drive, Wolfeboro NH 03894

Editor

Robert J. Spear

The NVFA encourages the

distribution and dissemination of

information about the new violin

family octet, performers,

composers, and luthiers.

Permission is granted for fair use

of any material appearing in the

newsletter with proper attribution

of its source. Please notify the

editor when such use is made.

(C) 2004 by the New ViolinFamily Assoiation, Inc.

I have more or less retired from violin workas a profession and consider the craft as anavocation now. I am having more fun and getting

more work done than I ever did before. Muchof my time is devoted to making instruments ofthe new family as well as conventional

instruments, mostly violas and cellos. Some ofthat time will now be devoted to this publication.I only hope that my first newsletter turns out

better than my first violin!

How Are We Doing?Please let us know what you think. Your

comments, and letters are most welcome, andeven more so any information about individuals

or groups making use of new family instruments.We are always looking for information aboutmakers and the people who buy and play their

instruments. If there are concerts beingpresented on octet instruments, keep usinformed.

See you here next time!

RJ SpearPO Box 6562

Ithaca, NY 14850

[email protected]

Officers and Board

Supporting the New Violin Family Association, Inc.

Your contribution in any amount supports our work in promoting Octet performancesinternationally, commissioning composers for new repertoire, presenting lectures anddemonstrations with musicians and luthiers, arranging outreach programs in the schools, and,

most importantly, funding the construction of new instruments and bows. Your support andencouragement is the backbone of our organization. The NVFA is presently incorporated inthe state of New Jersey as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, and is officially registered as

a foreign corporation in the state of New Hampshire. Your contribution is tax-deductible to theextent allowed by law, and your generosity makes many things possible. Thank you from all ofus for whatever contribution you care to make. We'll put it to good use!

We accept both VISA and MasterCard, as well as checks and US postal money orders. Weare not able to accept overseas checks unless drawn on a US bank.

New Violin Family Association Newsletter 3

The Violin Octet is a consort ofinstruments graduated in size, one at eachhalf octave, from a seven-foot contrabass

to a tiny treble violin tuned an octave abovethe standard violin. I began to design andmake this octet of violins over 45 years ago

in response to the challenges of modernmusic and the demanding acoustics of

today's large concert halls for which the

violins of the past were never intended.

The octet violins are patterned on

designs created by my colleagues and meand were constructed using the violin-making techniques of the past. Acoustically

they are based on the wonderful Guarneridel Gesu that belonged to the great violinvirtuoso, Jascha Heifetz, applied in

Acoustical Science Creates Eight New Violins

accordance with the principals of modernacoustical science.

The story began in 1957 when HenryBrant, then composer in residence atBennington College, came to me looking

for a violin maker “crazy enough to try anew idea.” He wanted a set of seven

graduated “violins,” one at each half-

octave, that would incorporate the clarity,brilliance and power of the violin evenlyon all four strings, not the tonal qualities

of the viola and cello, beautiful though theyare. After a half-hour discussion, I agreed.

My colleagues, F. A. Saunders and J.C. Schelleng, were skeptical. Saunderssaid to me, "Hutchie, you'll never be able

to build all those instruments." I told him,"I'm going to try." When the first four orfive were ready we found that even a fine

concert violin was not powerful enough toplay in balance with them. Schelleng andI designed an enlarged violin called a

"mezzo." That brought the number of newviolins to eight. It took me ten years todesign and complete the first set.

About halfway through the project,musicologist Stephen Bonta brought me

a book by Michael Praetorius, SyntagmaMusicum II (Wolfenbuettel, 1619).Praetorius had described 7 geigen (violins)

in much the same tunings that we weredeveloping. Bonta was excited to discoverthat the baritone violin (large cello) and the

big bass we had created for the octet hadexactly the same dimensions and stringlengths as the instruments Praetorius had

pictured three centuries earlier. We beganto feel that we were on the right track.

I could not possibly have createdthese instruments without knowledge ofplate tuning, the two important air and

wood modes of the violin as distinguishedfrom those of the viola, cello and bass, ormy experience in moving their frequencies

around in various-size instruments. Istarted tuning plates in the 1950s basedon the work of the early 19th-century

scientists Felix Savart and Ernst Chladni.

In the early 1800s, in response to a

demand for more sound from the violinsto fill the increased size of concert halls,J. B. Vuillaume, the now-famous Paris

violin maker, was taking apart a dozen orso Stradivari and Guarneri violins. In orderto increase the sound he was installing

heavier bass bars and longer necks to givegreater tension to the strings. Vuillaumewent to the scientist Felix Savart, who, with

The New Family Octet, from front to rear, treble, soprano, mezzo, alto, tenor, baritone,

small bass, contrabass--every one a violin!

by Carleen M. Hutchins

The violin octet represents the fruition of a concept that has been in the minds of creative musicians and instrumentbuilders since the sixteenth century. Such a consort has never before been musically successful until the present

collaboration between string players, composers, violin makers, musicologists and acousticians.

phot

o by

Art

hur

Mon

tzka

his friend Ernst Chladni, developed amethod of vibrating a violin plate andchecking the frequency of its main tap tone

(now called "mode 5"). They found that inthe tap tones of fine violins there was adifference of a tone to a semitone between

the top and the back of the free plates. Thisfinding has been followed with fair successby violin makers ever since.

In my first major paper (Hutchins,Carleen M., with A. S. Hopping and F. A.

Saunders, "Subharmonics and PlateTapTones in Violin Acoustics," JASA Vol.32, no. 11, Nov. 1960), I reported my use

of this tone-to-a- semitone spacing of thetap tone. However, I also showed that evenbetter violins were beginning to result when

in addition the "X mode" (mode 2) matchedin frequency between a given pair of topand back free plates.

Over the next 20 years my studentsand I constructed and tested over 300

violin-family instruments in all sizes andtunings, and we were able to tie down toour satisfaction several arrangements of

free-plate modes that produced superiorinstruments. I reported this work in several


The present plan is to makeWolfeboro the worldwide operationscenter for the development of the Violin

Octet. This means working toward anendowment, possibly as much as$1,000,000, the income from which could

help to fund the projects including theconstruction of new Octet instrumentsboth individually and in sets, funding

contests for new music to be composedfor the Violin Octet, and most of all theactual performances of the entire consort,

possibly one in each state. This may seema very ambitious program, but there area good many players in this area and a

great deal of enthusiasm among thepeople who live here. I have set up myown house for small group lectures and

possibly concerts as a start.

The development of the octet has

benefited from the expert advice and helpof over 100 associates in the CatgutAcoustical Society, my discoveries of free

plate tuning, and the support of twoGuggenheim Fellowships and four grantsfrom the Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund

for Music. The work has brought me fourhonorary degrees and the AcousticalSociety of America’s highest award,

Honorary Fellowship, given first toThomas Alva Edison and only 13 timessince.

publications. (Hutchins, C. M.."Acousticsof violin plates" Scientific American,October 1981, pp. 126-135): ("Plate tuning

for the violin maker" CAS Newsletter 39,May 1983).

The first public performance of theViolin Octet was at the YM - YWHA in NewYork City in 1962 before an astonished and

excited audience. Conductor LeopoldStowkowski, impressed by the sound of thealto violin, said , "That is the sound I have

always wanted to hear from the violas inmy orchestra. It fills the entire hall."

I wrote an article that described thework of developing each new instrument(Hutchins, C. M., "Founding a family of

Fiddles" Physics Today, Vol. 20, No. 2,Feb. 1967, pp. 23-37). See also the CatgutAcoustical Society website

<www.catgutacoustical.org>). In the 30years or so that followed, my colleaguesand I presented over 200 lecture

demonstrations and concerts of the octetand made another seven octet sets.

In 1999 I formed the New Violin FamilyAssociation, which split off from the CatgutAcoustical Society. The following year I

moved to Wolfeboro-Tuftonboro, NewHampshire, and brought the central officeof the NVFA. with me.

Instruments of the Violin Octet showing the tuning range of each.

Six of the seven "violins" shown in Michael

Praetorius' Syntagma Musicum.

Praetorius' smallest "geige,"which he labeled a "violin anoctave higher," is a 3-stringed

instrument with a rebec-likebody and a single opensoundhole instead of two ff-

holes (see picture on previouspage). The instrument is aboutthe size of a modern quarter-

size violin, and Praetorius refersto it as a "pocket fiddle."

Strings of the time could notbe tuned as high as the e''' ofthe modern four-string treble

violin unless the string lengthwas very short. There is anunusual record of a 3-string

violin in England that had a shortstring length of about 150 mm.It is one of a set of three

reproduced actual size inmarquetry work on the top of the"Eglantine" table in Hardwick

Hall near Chesterfield,Derbyshire. This violin-likeinstrument could have been

tuned d" a" e''' but was likelytuned a tone lower.

The soprano violin has beenknown since before the time ofPraetorius, who called it the

"discant violin a fourth higher."Although it more resembled amodern violin in shape, it was

also very nearly a quarter-sizeviolin. A similar but slightly largerinstrument in Bach's time was

called the violino piccolo. It wastuned like the octet soprano, butit was used as a three-stringed

violin, possibly due to thelimitations of string technology.Bach was a great champion of

this instrument and wrote parts

for it in his cantata Wachet Aufand in the First BrandenburgConcerto. Since the upper range

of the piccolo violin without a higha" string is practically identical tothe upper range of the

conventional violin, theappearance and use of violins inmore than one size indicates that

different tone colors were asimportant as range to musiciansof earlier centuries.

Standard violins, developedover a period of 300 years, are

considered the most refinedinstruments of the string familyand provide the first clear

comparison with the largermezzo violin. Many great violinmakers of the past, including

Amati, Maggini, and Stradivaribuilt violins on "grand" patterns,so this idea is not new. Violins of

different sizes were not tuneddifferently, again reinforcing thenotion that different tonal

qualities were considereddesirable. The creators of theoctet had the opposite task; they

wished to make a largerinstrument that had the sametonal characteristics of the

smaller original.

Early violas also came in

many sizes. All violas were tunedthe same (c g d' a') but written inthe clef of the voice they played,

with the larger-bodied modelsusually taking the tenor part.Paintings of the time show these

big violas played on the shoulder,a reasonable practice when partsdid not exceed first position.

Tenor violas were tiring to hold

nonetheless and the difficultiesreaching the upper positions mayhave contributed to the

instruments' decline with theadvent of more demanding parts.The alto viola that has come

down to us is too small for itstonal compass, and has acousticweaknesses that have long been

a source of complaint. The newoctet alto is an advance since theplayability problem has been

solved by placing it on an endpin.

The tenor violin has been the

neglected voice of the modernstring family until now.Historically, it is difficult to discuss

the tenor apart from the cello, astheir sizes and tunings haveoverlapped at times. There is a

What's Old is New Again

great difference between thetenor viola of the past and themodern tenor violin, both in

size and tuning. In the 19thcentury the ideal of the tenorwas that of an "octave violin,"

tuned an octave below theviolin (G d a e') with all violindimensions exactly doubled.

Instruments with this tuningare encountered in Italy as farback as the early 17th century,

sometimes with a fifth stringtuned to low C like the cello.

The New Grove's Dictionaryof Music and Musicians statesthat the loss of the tenor voicein the string family was a

musical disaster. Still,

The new violin family octet is often thought of as a modern implementation of violin making, but in fact, violin-family

instruments have been made in many sizes throughout their history.

The violin octet. (From left); baritone, bass, contrabass; (on bench),

tenor, alto; (on floor),mezzo, soprano, treble.

photo: John Castronovo


see New Again on p. 15


Listen to the Music

Musicians throughout the United States and in many foreign countries are playing octet instruments individually and with

smaller groups. Here's a short list of who's where and what they play.

TrebleTreble violinist Sir Grigory

Sedukh has concertized widelyover the past three years. He

writes that in the last 12 monthshe has given 11 concerts inJapan and seven in Amsterdam,

London, and Genova, plusothers in his home city of St.Petersburg. "Grisha," as he is

known to his friends, says thefirst time he saw the treble violinwas "a happy day" in his life.

Chien Tan, principal secondviolinist of the Portland (OR)Symphony, recently purchased a

treble violin and began a musicalcollaboration with Bill Berman,who many will remember as the

first to play the alto on hisshoulder. Berman has retiredfrom the viola and now plays

mezzo violin. Tan and Bermanhope to start a west-coast octet.

Sir Grigory Sedukh of St.

Petersburg, Russia

Soprano, MezzoRachel Evans, a Juilliard-

trained violist, has begun toplay the soprano violin in thenewly formed Albert Consort in

central New York. Hercolleague in the group, Carrie

Reuning-Hummel, a violinist

turned violist, has taken to themezzo. Reuning-Hummelsays she loves theinstrument's mezzo quality, a

comment echoed by severalprofessional singers who haveheard it.

Carrie Reuning-Hummel with

soprano violin.

Elisa Evett in rehearsal with small

baritone violin

Sai-Ly Heng Acosta hasjoined the Hutchins Consort

as mezzo violinist. Octetinstruments are a family affairfor Sai-Ly; her husband, John

Acosta, is the consort's altoviolinist.

AltoThe newest alto player is

Stephen Stalker of the Albert

Consort. Stalker, who isprofessor of cello atBinghamton (NY) University,

says the only drawback to thealto is that he can't play it asmuch as he'd like. Micha

Haran of Israel has beenplaying the alto and baritone

"The first time I saw a treble violin was a happy day."Grigory Sedukh

since he became acquaintedwith the octet during the 20years he lived in Montclair, NJ.

Haran plays his alto in theviola section of the IsraelPhilharmonic Orchestra.

Tenor, BaritoneTed Mook will play the tenor

violin this spring with theChamber Music Society ofLincoln Center at Alice Tully

Hall (see Events, p. 5). SeraSmolen of Ithaca (NY) hasrecently joined the Albert

Consort as tenor violinist.

Cellist Akua Dickson hasrecorded several CDs using

the baritone violin. Dickson,who lives in Montclair, NJ andis active in New York City says

that she prefers the baritonebecause it blends so well withother instruments. Elisa Evett

plays a second-generationbaritone in the Albert Consort.She recently performed Paul

Hindemith's Kleine Sonata furCello und Klavier on thebaritone with pianist Diane

Birr.

BassesBassist Dominic Duval, well-

known among New York City jazz

musicians, has made a number ofCDs using the small bass. Hereports that for performing and

recording he prefers the smallbass because of its superioracoustical and playing

characteristics.Diana Gannett, professor of

music at the University of

Michigan, continues to play hersmall bass, which is tuned as aregular double bass. This

instrument was the first small basswe ever built. Joe McNalley of theHutchins Consort remains the

premiere performer on thecontrabass. He continues toexplore and expand the

techniques of playing thisinstrument and doing things in thehigher positions that others said

could not be done.

Joe McNalley, ContrabassJoe McNalley, Contrabass

A second performing

ensemble of New Violin Familyinstruments has been organizedin the upstate New York city ofIthaca by luthier Robert J. (Bob)

Spear, a former student ofCarleen Hutchins. Presentlyconstituted as a quintet, the group

presented its first performance onNovember 30, 2003 at the IthacaFirst Unitarian Church. Selections

included excerpts from Bach's Artof the Fugue, pieces for stringquartet by Mendelssohn arranged

for tenor quartet, and VaughanWilliams' Phantasy Quintet.

A standing-room-only turnouton a brisk November afternoonindicates that a high level of

interest in the new violin familyexists in Ithaca, a city famous forits interest in music since the

founding in 1895 of the IthacaConservatory of Music (now theIthaca College School of Music).

The consort, named forSpear's late father-in-law, Albert

Mitchell Zalkind, is presently anall-volunteer organization thatpresents several concerts each

New Violin Family Association Newsletter

Albert Consort Forms

season. The players assist in

promoting and publicizing theconcerts, and enthusiasm for theconsort is high. One playercommutes almost three hours to

attend rehearsals. Anothermember of the group evenscheduled surgery to avoid

conflicts with rehearsal dates!

Spear hopes to complete a

small bass in time for theconsort's next concert scheduledfor May of 2004. Plans for the

future include performances byguest artists on instruments of theoctet not presently included in the

Albert Consort and a recordingsession.

The instruments used aresecond-generation models of thenew violin family Spear designed

and built to further the work begunby Carleen Hutchins in the 1960s.A paper on the results of Spear's

research on this subset of theoctet was published in theNovember issue of the Catgut

Acoustical Society Journal. Moreon the Albert Consort will appearin the next newsletter.

February 27, 2004Hutchins Consort, Neurosciences Institute, 10604 John

Jay Hopkins Drive, La Jolla, CA. Program with AlanVogel, oboe: Brade, Britten, Liszt, Kenton. 8:00 p.m. $$

April 9, 2004Hutchins Consort, Neurosciences Institute, 10604 JohnJay Hopkins Drive, La Jolla, CA. Program: Charlton,

Walczyk, Mozart. 8:00 p.m. $$

April 13, 2004

Albert Consort, Steadman Recital Hall, Mansfield StateCollege, Mansfield, PA. Program: Vaughan Williams,Mendelssohn, others. 1:00 p.m. Free

May 7, 2004Hutchins Consort, Irvine Barclay Theater, 4242 Campus

Drive, Irvine, CA.Program with Charles Curtis, cello:Janacek, Rackley, Mozart, Piazolla. 8:00 p.m. $$

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Alice Tully Hall,corner 65th and Broadway, New York, NY, Programincludes Ted Mook, Tenor Violin, in Harry Partch's "17

Lyrics of Li Po": also, Yi, Ravel, Takemitsu 8:00 p.m. $$

May 8, 2004

Hutchins Consort, Neurosciences Institute, 10604 JohnJay Hopkins Drive, La Jolla, CA.Program with CharlesCurtis, cello: Janacek, Rackley, Mozart, Piazolla 8:00 p.m.

$$

May 22, 2004

Albert Consort, Trinity Memorial Church, Binghamton, NY.Program with Carol McAmis, soprano voice: Chausson,Haendel, Barber, Haydn. 8:00 p.m. Free

May 23, 2004Albert Consort, First Unitarian Church, corner Buffalo and

Aurora Streets, Ithaca, NY. Program with Carol McAmis,soprano voice: Chausson, Haendel, Barber, Haydn. 7:00p.m. Free

Please Note: Concert times and places are subject to change.For updated events information visit our web site at

http://www.newviolinfamily.org/events

Events Calendar

7

Members of the Albert Consort performing at the First UnitarianChurch, Ithaca, NY. From l. to r., Rachel Evans, soprano violin;

Carrie-Reuning Hummel, mezzo; Stephen Stalker, alto; Sera JaneSmolen, tenor; Elisa Evett, baritone.


GenerationsCarleen Hutchins' theories of free-

plate tuning required a small, self-con-tained sine wave generator. Luthiers TomKnatt and Al Carruth had been discuss-

ing this need in the early 1980s at a folkmusic festival where they had a booth. ASwedish gentleman stopped by with an

instrument called a "nycelharpa," whichCarruth describes as "a sort of semiau-tomatic fiddle with drone strings." It was

the man's first instrument, and he wantedsome help in making the next one bet-ter. Knatt thought he could help, but not

without test equipment.

Hutchins' free-plate tuning theories

gave luthiers the knowledge to make

better instruments, and Carruth and

Knatt gave them the essential tool.

Some of the old Garage Gang recall

"The Un1t," the original Chladni-

pattern generator that was built with

sweepings from an office floor.

"What do you need?" the man asked.

Knatt replied, "A signal generator, am-plifier, and frequency counter." The visi-tor produced his business card, which

identified him as Matthew Fichtenbaum,chief scientist of the General Radio Cor-poration. "Now," Fichtenbaum said, "ex-

actly what do you need?"

General Radio was relocating and

employees were emptying their desks,so Fichtenbaum put the first unit togetherwith sweepings from the office floor.

Carruth and Knatt were interested ingetting units for themselves, but madethe mistake of showing the prototype to

Hutchins in 1981. Carruth remembers,"Carleen liked it so much she wouldn'tgive it back unless we got one for her."

At this point, everything fell into place.Fichtenbaum refined the design so that

most components could be obtained

An example of Carruth and Knatt's sine-

wave generator featuring a 50-watt rms

amplifier (later derated to 30 watts). The

sweep range could be altered only by

changing some electronic components

internally.

from Radio Shack, gave the plans toCarruth and Knatt, and offered help trouble-

shooting. Carruth's father, with 30 years inthe electronics industry, was looking for aretirement business. Carruth's mother, an

experienced electronics assembler, offeredto put the parts together, complete with ahelpful frequency chart decal applied to the

front panel.

Luthiers liked the device, although

many found the $350 cost of the hand-wired units prohibitive. The Carruth groupbuilt and sold 21 generators over the next

several years, but the project faltered whenCarruth's father died in 1984. Carruth andKnatt were more interested in building in-

struments than assembling electronics.The two wired a few additional units, buttheir goal became finding someone to take

over the business.

Don Bradley, a graduate electrical en-

gineer, had been interested in the applica-tion of electronics to guitar making. He hasalways been enamored by the sounds of

stringed instruments and was first inspired

The latest unit from Bradley hasinstantaneous readout and can storeeight frequencies for quickswitching between modes.

Carleen liked the unit so much she wouldn't give it back . . .

to make a frequency generator when heattended a plate-tuning demonstration Car-

leen Hutchins gave at the 1979 Guild ofAmerican Luthiers convention in Boston.The concept fascinated Bradley, who gath-

ered parts for the project but never as-sembled them. Bradley met Carruth at the1992 GAL convention at the National Mu-

sic Museum in South Dakota and agreedto acquire Carruth's remaining parts inven-tory and schematics. Bradley says he got

a deal from Carruth; Carruth says he

dumped all the leftover parts on Bradley.Only good can come out of such ex-changes.

Bradley designed a printed circuit boardto replace the original hand-wired bread-

boards. He called his unit the SigGen 2 andeven managed to keep the price about thesame. "I built the SigGen2 units based on

Alan's work," Bradley says, "I've sold about84 units over the last ten years, mostly toviolin makers. I have expended all the origi-

nal circuit boards for the older unit and Iam currently selling only the new prototype."

Bradley has made the new SigGen3small and transportable and given it im-provements over previous models. The

sine wave is now created by a direct digi-tal synthesizer chip instead of the combi-nation sine and triangle wave output of

the previous unit, and the amplifier isslightly more powerful at 27 watts rmsinstead of 20 watts. SigGen3 also has

greater range, sweeping continuouslyfrom 10 Hz to 20,000 Hz (the low range amust for those of us tuning those big

basses!) and a nice LCD signal display.

Bradley plans to increase the power of

the units to 50 watts so luthiers can drivethe plates of cellos and basses withoutthe need for additional equipment. He

says now that the design and productionof the SigGen3 have come to fruition heplans to have more free time to complete

several instruments in progress.


New Instruments for New Times

New octet sets and individual instruments of the new family are under construction all over the world.

Many individual instruments are also being built.

Octets on the RoadThere was a point when

most of the existing octet setscould be found only in

museums and universities, butthat situation is changing as anew wave of violin makers

contributes to the advancementof the new violin family.

It's not that early octets were

shut away in an ivory tower ora storage room and forgotten.During the last thirty years over

200 lectures and concerts werepresented to large audiences inLondon, Edinburgh, Stockholm,

St. Petersburg, Berlin, Tokyo,Taiwan, the MetropolitanMuseum of Art, the National

Music Museum, and otherplaces in the US and Canada.

An octet spent three years

in London at the Royal Collegeof Music where their newsounds were explored and new

music was written for them.Another full set was loaned tothe Conservatory of Music in St.

Petersburg, Russia. Eight

distinguished professionals andprofessors performed manyconcerts to standing ovations

and enthusiastic reviews withseveral fine recordings plusmany new compositions

resulting (CD CAS 9801. Seelast page for more information).

Two octets are now in New

York City. One is kept privatelyfor loan to musicians, and theother is at the Metropolitan

Museum of Art's long-runningand popular exhibit. In 2002,the Hutchins Consort played

their personal octet set in aMother's Day Concert given atthe Met's Grace Rainey Rogers

Auditorium before an audienceof more than 500 people.

Octets on the BenchSeven complete octets are

currently in existence; an

eighth set lacks only acontrabass. All of them weremade by Carleen Hutchins and

her associates between the

early 1960s and the mid-1980s.During the 15 years thatfollowed, makers began

building individual new violinfamily instruments, but therewas a lull in creating any more

full sets.At present, work is underway

on three octets in three different

countries. Joris Wouters inWesterlo, Belgium is buildingthe first Belgian octet. He has

completed two instruments andis working on two more,including a baritone. In Genoa,

Italy, Pio Montanari hascompleted a treble, soprano,mezzo and alto and is not far

behind in his quest to build thefirst Italian octet.

In central New York, a third

octet is being constructed byRobert J. Spear. At presentSpear has completed five of the

set and is working on a smallbass (for more about this octet,

An early photo of Carleen Hutchins varnishing a standard viola. Asmall bass in the background awaits the brush.

see p. 5). Spear has slowedwork on the bass to build twoaltos for private individuals.

Other makers continue toproduce individual octetinstruments. Alan Carruth

recently completed a tenor fora private individual, and two ofhis students have built altos.

Tom Knatt in Concord, NewHampshire has made altos, andtwo are currently under

construction by Steve McCannin Grand Rapids. Carolyn W.

A soprano, mezzo, alto, tenor, and baritone in the white on RobertSpear's workbench.

see "new octets," p. 10

9

Joris Wouters


Field in Tennessee constructsmezzos, altos, and tenors, andplays the alto in a quintet and an

orchestra.Anne Cole of Albuquerque, NM

has made an alto, a tenor, and a

baritone and performs on allthree. Duane Voskuil in Bismark,ND, has made three mezzos,

including one set up with fivestrings. Voskuil has alsoconstructed a small bass that is

used in a city orchestra in placeof a 3/4-size bass viol.

Lloyd Craighill of Amherst, MA

writes that he is currently workingon his fifth tenor. His third andfourth tenors were commissioned

by professional cellists. Craighillplayed his second tenor with themin public performance and notes

that the "three tenors" made agood impression.

Retired physicist Fred Lipsett

knows of six students who playalto. Fred plays an alto made in1998 by Peter Mach of Aylmer,

Quebec, and reports that PeterChandler of Ottawa makes altos.

Octets of the FutureDuring the long association of

the new violin family and the

"new octets," cont'd. from p. 9

10

Catgut Acoustical Society, many

requests were received forinformation about constructingoctet instruments. This interest

did not diminish after the NVFAwas formed and split off from theCAS in 2000.

Since its inception, NVFA hasreceived over 360 requests forinformation about the octet.

Nineteen maker's kits and six setsof technical drawings have beensold. Individual plans have been

purchased for one soprano, fourmezzos, two tenors, one baritone,and 11 altos.

Sales of music for the octetandsmaller combinations of octetinstruments have been started on

the NVFA web site. TheSuperSensitive String Company,the only commercial firm in the

world producing strings for theoctet, has recently reported anincrease in sales and is upgrading

its new family line of strings.

Portions of this story originally appearedin the August 2003 issue of NewMusicBox((c) 2003 NewMusicBox), the webmagazine from the American Music Center(www.newmusicbox.org) and are used withpermission.

Contemporary Octet Composers: a brief review

In 1957, when Henry Brantasked Carleen Hutchins for a

consort of seven newinstruments to match thesound of the violin, he

probably had no idea of theamazing series of events hisrequest would set in motion.

Brant was so excited aboutthe idea that the first piece hecomposed for the group,

“Consort for True Violins,”was finished two years beforeHutchins assembled her first

full set. In 1965, Brantarranged a concert for thenew octet in New York City at

the 92nd Street YM-YWHA aspart of Max Polikoff's program"Music in Our Time."

Other composers becameinterested enough in the new

octet to write pieces for thegroup, despite the possibilitythat they would never hear

their compositions played onthese instruments more thanonce. Gordon Jacob's

"Aphorisms," written in thelate 1970s for a full octet then

at the Royal Academy of

Music in England, is happyproof otherwise. It is oftenplayed in concert by the

Hutchins Consort and hasbeen well received byaudiences everywhere.

German-born FrankLewin is also among the

early composers to write andarrange for the octet. Lewin'sadaptation and arrangement

of the Sanctus and theHosanna and Benedictusfrom Palestrina's L'Homme

Arme' was one of the earliestpieces to appear in the NVFAcatalog. A compact disc of

his works is being preparedfor release by the NVFA andshould be available on the

NVFA web site in mid-February 2004.

Award-winning composerConstance Cooper of NewYork City often writes for

combinations of instrumentseither consisting of orincluding many instruments

of the new family. Comingfrom Us (Cadence-QuixoticRecordings), released in the

fall of 2003, is comprised ofselections from her book ofmicrotonal pieces for string

ensembles in groupingsfrom duos to full octets. InNovember 2002, Cooper

appeared on WNYC-FM'sSoundcheck with JohnSchaefer and demonstrated

the treble violin with arecorded excerpt of her LeRossignol-en-amour with

John Lad, treble violin.Cooper writes that she wasFrank Lewin

"able to draw 'oohs' and 'aahs'from others present at the beautyof the instrument in its uniquely

high tessitura."

There is no contemporary

composer more active in writingand arranging for the new familythan our own Interim President,

Robert J. Miller. Miller hasproduced more than 100 worksfor various combinations of octet

instruments, and many of themare available on the NVFAwebsite.

Other composers currentlywriting for the octet are Laurie

Conrad of Ithaca, NY and CliffordYoung of Trenton, NJ. Conrad'spiece for baritone quintet, Elegie,

received its world premiereperformance by the AlbertConsort in November 2003.


If your ancient Chladni-pattern generator (see story onprevious page) has given up, don't despair. You may be ableto have it repaired. Don Bradley still has many parts for all

the previous units and will repair them on an individual ba-sis. Contact Don at Bradley Engineering, PO Box 141,Forestville, CA 95463 or email <[email protected]>.

Attention Luthiers!

Annual Meeting of NVFA Officers and Board

The NVFA Officers and Boardof Trustees met on Sunday,

September 26, 2003 at 11:00 amfor their annual meeting. Thegathering was at the Wolfeboro,

NH home of Executive DirectorCarleen M. Hutchins. Trusteeswho could not be present

participated by means of aconference call.

Hutchins chaired the meetingin the absence of President AlanAlexander, who had expressed

his desire to step down forpersonal reasons. Long-time

Luthiers who want to learnmore about crafting octet instru-ments can obtain a kit that in-

cludes a short history of the Vio-lin Octet, a blueprint price list,wood dimensions for each size,

music for the New Violin Family,a guide for copying parts, relativescaling factors for conventional

and new family instruments, Oc-tet plate tuning frequencies, and

articles related to plate tuning.The Luthier's Kit is available

for $50 plus postage.

New Violin Family Association42 Taylor Drive

Wolfeboro, NH 03894

Carleen M. Hutchins chairing the

board meeting on Sept. 26.

trustee Dennis Flanaganalso asked to be relieved of

his duties citing hisadvanced age and inability totravel. The board accepted

both resignations. Robert J.Miller was elected InterimPresident to serve the

remainder of Alexander'sterm, after which the minutesof the previous meeting were

read and accepted and thefinancial report given.

There are presently 16officers and trustees, butplans are to bring that

number to the 21 membersthe bylaws allow. Anominating committee will be

formed by Margaret Sachterand Quincy Whitney.Hutchins stressed the need

to include individuals whohave experience in fund-raising campaigns but to

reduce the burdens of boardmembers who are working inimportant related areas such

as the construction of octetinstruments or thepresentation of public

performances.

The board also voted toinstitute staggered terms so

that only one-third of theirnumber is elected in any givenyear. New members elected to

the board include DanielHeifetz, renowned violinist andeducator, and Scott Ponicson,

who will facilitate associationdealings in New Jersey wherethe NVFA is still officially

incorporated (NVFA is alsoregistered as a "foreign"corporation in the state of New

Hampshire).

A planning committee

comprised of Bob Miller, JoeMcNalley, and Scott Ponicsonwas formed to advance a five-

year business plan for theNVFA. A panel to advise theBoard is also being

considered. Included amongthe proposed members areRobert J. Spear and Alan

Carruth, both working luthiers.The need for a newsletter wasalso brought up, and the

consensus of opinion was thatit should be available in bothprint and electronic form on the

Association's web site.

Know Anyone Making or Playing Octet Instruments?

Please send notice to R. J. Spear, Editor. We'll take it from there.

email <[email protected]> or mail to PO Box 6562, Ithaca, NY 14851

Considerable discussion

was devoted to priorities for theAssociation. While the lack ofoctet instruments is our main

concern, Joe McNalleystressed that all publicperformances of the octet

instruments must be ofprofessional caliber. He alsounderscored the need for better

strings and the construction ofbows specifically sized for thenew instruments. After further

discussions, the meetingadjourned at 2:00 p.m.

On the recommendation ofBob Miller the board laterapproved the production of a

CD featuring the music ofcomposer Frank Lewin writtenfor the new violin family octet.

Much of the recording work hasalready been done and theeffort and expense would have

been wasted had no actionbeen taken. Lewin hasgraciously waived his

commissions, and Millercommenced production work inNovember 2003. The tentative

release date of the new CD isFebruary 2004.


Carleen Hutchins Donates Archives to the National Music Museum

Many of us dread thethought of moving our

household and wonder howwe'd deal with all that stuffwe've accumulated over the

years. Our problems wouldseem small next to those ofCarleen Hutchins. Faced

with leaving the house inwhich she had lived foralmost 90 years, simply

packing personal items andfurniture would have been anexhausting task

But Hutchins also hadaccumulated half a century's

worth of work in violinresearch and construction.There were literally hundreds

of boxes of records, files,notebooks, and the like, plustools and dozens of

unfinished instruments. Evenwith the records of the CatgutAcoustical Society moved to

Stanford University inCalifornia, the materialremaining at 112 Essex

Avenue constituted anirreplaceable history ofacoustical research.

The logical place forsuch important archives

seemed to be the Shrine toMusic in Vermillion, on thecampus of the University of

South Dakota. The Shrine,now renamed the NationalMusic Museum (NMM), had

gained a reputation asAmerica's premier repositoryof musical instruments and

become a major center formusical research. Hutchins'relationship with the museum

dates back to June, 1992

when she brought a full octet

to Vermillion for a combinedmeeting of the CatgutAcoustical Society (CAS)

and the Guild of AmericanLuthiers (GAL). Afterdiscussion, she left the octet

with the museum.

The set represented a

group of instrumentsconstructed as early as 1968and as late as 1985 by

Hutchins and her associatesand students includingCarolyn W. Field, Christine

Livingstone, Louis Dunham,Burritt Miller, RaphaelBernstein, Donald and Laura

Blatter, and H. K. Jackson.Almost all the instrumentswere either made or tuned in

Montclair, NJ. They arepresently under thesupervision of Dr. Margaret

Downie Banks, Curator ofInstruments at the museum.

According to museumdirector Dr. Andre Larson, acouple of the instruments

have been exhibited on a

The National Music Museum, Vermillion, South Dakota

regular basis since then, and the

full octet has been played on atleast two occasions.

The decision to send morearchival materials along with threeexperimental instruments was

made on November 10, 2001when Larson visited Hutchins ather home in Montclair, NJ. Larson

recalls that he celebrated hisbirthday in Hutchins' kitchen, and

Carleen Hutchins in 1992 at the combined meeting of the CatgutAcoustical Society and the Guild of American Luthiers, sittingamidst the octet she donated to the National Music Museum.

Photo: Valerie Hoeppener, Yankton Press and Dakotan .

notes that Hutchins "kindly madesoup and sandwiches for us at

lunch time."

Throughout much of 2002 a

seemingly endless number ofboxes containing archival materialarrived at the museum. Larson's

wife, Kay Marcum, who is avolunteer at the museum, beganto organize the materials in

October of 2002. The task ofcreating an alphabetically andchronologically integrated

database is one that will likely takemonths, if not years. Marcummust handle every item

individually and become familiarwith each one. When she is done,others will be able to access thedatabase with ease, It is, as

Larson writes, "a daunting task."

The photos in this article are courtesy

of Dr. Andre Larson and the National Music

Museum and are used with permission.


The Flat-Top Viola.

Carleen Hutchins built thisexperimental viola (SUS 13,

NMM 10,181) in 1953 for a seriesof experiments by Frederick A.Saunders (1875 -1963). The

back and top were made flat sothe soundpost could be movedanywhere without falling. The

bass bar was on the outside, andreplaceable ribs allowed changesin height. Saunders tried many

different bridge materials (paducwood became his favorite), andhe even added wood patches to

the plates to affect their stiffness.He varied the shape and locationof the ff-holes, cut purfling

grooves wherever he wanted,and reshaped and relocated thebass bar.

Saunders widened andlengthened the ff-holes until they

looked like "spiral nebulae,"

testing the viola after each cut.The two researchers ultimatelyconcluded that the instrument

sounded best when thesoundholes were of normal area.Normal bass bar placement was

also best, although it didn't matterwhether the bar was outside orinside the body.

Hutchins made 35 differentbridges from 7 different kinds of

wood in 5 different thicknesses.She ultimately made 3 flat-topviolas but said many years later

that this one was probably themost important. "We did at least100 experiments on it, maybe

more, and learned an awful lotthat has proved quite valid eversince," she notes. "It is a good

viola except for the difference inthe overtone structure. Itrepresents the elements that are

necessary for good sound, noneof the fancy stuff that everybodythinks is so important."

The Black-Top Violin.

In the early 1970s, a grantfrom the National ScienceFoundation (NSF) enabled Prof.

Daniel W. Haines and his student,Nagyoung Chang, at theUniversity of South Carolina to

develop an alternate material forthe spruce tops of violins andguitars. Haines and Chang

created a laminated compositeconsisting of two layers ofgraphite-epoxy with a layer of

fiberboard in between.

Morton Hutchins got

Hercules Inc. to form the plateover a solid metal mold of a violintop in a 350 degree (F.) oven. The

resulting plate produced a cleartap-tone, and Carleen Hutchinscut ff-holes. Carbon fibers

became so deeply embedded inher fingers it took weeks beforethey worked themselves out.

Morton Hutchins spent monthsdeveloping an epoxy glue for thebass bar.

Acoustically the materialproved to be a success. Modal

analysis showed that thegraphite-epoxy sandwich hadcharacteristics very similar to that

of traditional violin tops. Problemswith delamination and thedifficulties of handling the

composite material delayed thework, during which time acompeting firm was first to secure

a patent on a similar product. Afew violin makers continue toexperiment with the material, but

it has not been generallyaccepted. However, commercialguitar making firms have adapted

it to production methods, andgraphite-epoxy guitar tops arecommon in the market.

The Swiss-Cheese Violin. After

consulting with

a c o u s t i c i a n sEdgar A. G.Shaw and Arthur

H. Benade, 65holes 5 mm indiameter were

drilled into theribs of this Strad-model violin. The

holes wereplugged withcorks to test the

interior cavity airresonances.E x p e r i m e n t s

spanned 18years.

The violin was brought toParis in 1983 where it caused asensation at the 11th Annual

Conference on Acoustics. TheFrench called the violin "LeGruyère." Hutchins persuaded

the German physicist JürgenMeyer, a fine violinist, to play theviolin as she removed the corks

one by one. Meyer's skepticismturned into amazement as thesound changed.

The relationship of the bodycavity resonances to the

openings of the ff-holes is sosensitive that removing just oneor two corks makes the violin

sound thin and scratchy. Whenall the holes are plugged, whichloads the ribs with the mass of

65 corks, the violin still has agood sound.

Thanks to the National MusicMuseum for permission to use thesephotos and for supplemental

information presented here.

Three Important Experimental Instruments

Three important experimental instruments by Carleen Hutchins are now held by the National MusicMuseum. They will be on display beginning in May, 2004.

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The Catgut

A c o u s t i c a lSociety will notexist as an

i n d e p e n d e n tentity by the endof 2003. The

o r g a n i z a t i o nfounded byCarleen Hutchins,

F. A. Saunders,John Schelleng,and Robert

Fryxell in 1963will merge with

the Violin Society of America after months

of discussion between the two groups. In amid-November 2003 letter, CAS presidentJay VandeKopple cited "compelling

reasons" for the merger, saying thedichotomy between the scientificallyoriented CAS and the traditionally oriented

VSA had become "increasingly irrelevant."

The union gives the combined groups

an enrollment of more than 1800. The CASwill become a VSA forum with its own boardand expects to continue publication of its

biannual journal as the VSA Papers. CASJournal editor Jeff Loen will remain as editorof the Papers issues while longtime VSA

member Albert Mell will continue as editorof the Proceedings issues.

CAS Board member Tom King notesthat the merger decision had been difficultgiven the pressures of declining enrollment,

diminishing revenues, and a fundamentalshift in the interests of the society'smembers. King, a past editor of the CAS

Journal, and current editor Loen both saidthat the number of physicists and otherresearchers working and writing in violin

acoustics had declined precipitously inrecent years, and that a lack of submissionshad made it difficult to maintain the Journal

as a peer-reviewed publication.

King also said there was a feeling that

the CAS largely had done what it set out to

Catgut Acoustical Society, Violin Society of America Agree to Merge

do and that it was a good time to bring thesociety into the cultural mainstream. "Thegood news, I think, is that the traditional

violin world is now far more receptive toresearch than ever before, " King said. "Inthat sense the CAS [has succeeded]. My

own view is that it is time to consolidate thatvictory by working closely with VSA."

The merger is bittersweet news formany CAS members who supported thesociety's work over the years. The move is

seen as the beginning of the end for anorganization unique for its time and in itsmission and philosophy. Some are skeptical

that the CAS can long retain a separateidentity after the merger and fear that withina few years the group will lose its focus and

become no more than a club.

A Glance Backward.The noted Harvard acoustician

Frederick A. Saunders pioneered violinresearch in America during the mid-1900s.

Although the Catgut Acoustical Society didnot find its name until later, the group inessence was the outgrowth of the

researchers associated with him. The CASinitially was small and egalitarian, and itsmembers did their work for the love of it.

Most early research was supported byvoluntary contributions because CAS at firstdid not assess membership dues. Clerical

help often volunteered their services andremained with the society for years. Thesociety's emphasis was on the relaxed and

noncommercial exchange of information, arare philosophy for the time. Severalphysicists associated with the CAS in its

early days remarked that the spirit of thegroup reminded them of the informalatmosphere of cooperation that flourished

among 18th-century scientists.

Scientific and practical work on stringed

instruments in general and the new violinfamily in particular were ongoing andinseparable even before the CAS officially

organized. Over a period of more than thirtyyears the first octets were built and therevolutionary techniques of applying

theoretical knowledge to practical workwere first developed. This researchoccurred along side an astonishing array

of investigation into every conceivable areaof violin and related acoustics. Theinformation gained was applicable to all

violin work, not just the new family.

Despite the recurring debates over

whether the CAS should be a scientific ora craft organization, the founding leadersand most since tried to take the middle road.

The individuals proposed for membershipin 1965, for example, included a chemist,an academic, a businessman, a composer,

two musicians, four physicists and fourviolin makers, reflecting the wide appeal ofthe society and the wonderful breadth of its

early membership. At its peak, CAS was ahighly respected international organizationwith over 800 members. In 1983 the

biannual CAS Newsletter was transformedinto a peer-reviewed scientific journal inwhich many groundbreaking papers were

first published.

Violin octet work continues under the

New Violin Family Association, which splitoff from the CAS at the end of 1999. Theoctet instruments will move from the

theoretical world into the concert hall, andthe Catgut Acoustical Society's spirit will liveon wherever instruments of the new violin

family are played.

F. A. Saunders with treble violin.

Original CAS Logo

drawn by C. M.

Hutchins


Lighter Moments

Rachel Evans, soprano violinist of the Albert Consort, discovers

how to play the vertical viola on her shoulder!

Consort, from p. 1

Hampshire. The ensemble rarely

comes east, but that may changejudging from the number ofpeople who turned out for the

concert and the enthusiasticresponse they gave to thesuggestion of another visit by the

Hutchins Consort next year.

The consort played a program

consisting of Sweelinck's Hodie,Christus Natus Est, Bartok'sRumanian Folk Dances, Greig's

Holberg Suite, and GordonJacob's Aphorisms, originallywritten for the new violin family

octet. Also performed wasGershwin's Summertime, and thegroup's signature selection to

close the first half, Kenton'sIntermission Riff.

The Hutchins Consort, foundedin 1999 by its contrabassist, JoeMcNalley, is the only one that

owns a complete set of the octetinstruments and is the onlyprofessional octet in the world.

The ensemble plays 12 to 14concerts annually, mostly in LaJolla and Irvine, CA and has also

traveled and performed abroad.

NewMusicBox Magazine, theAmerican Music Center's Internetmagazine, published an interview

with Carleen M. Hutchins in its Au-gust, 2003, edition (Issue 52, Vol.5, No. 4). Magazine editor Frank

J. Otari posed the question "Whatprompted you to build instrumentsand what role should instrument

builders have in shaping the fu-ture of music?

Carleen's answer and those ofother prominent musical figurescan be read on the magazine's

web site at <http://www.newmusicbox.org>. Whenthe page appears, type "Hutchins"

(without quotes) in the search fieldentitled "pages" and hit the enterkey. Readers can also search the

"archives" section manually.

NewMusicBox magazine is a

highly-regarded example of apublication without paper. The 3-year-old magazine was the first

recipient of the ASCAP-DeemsTaylor Award for an Americanmusic magazine.

Hutchins Interview

composers from Bach to

Taneyev have written for thetenor, and makers from theseventeenth century into the

present time have built them.The octet tenor is the firstsuccessful attempt to apply

modern physics andacoustics to the constructionof the tenor.

The baritone violinharkens back to the Venetian

bassetti and other largecellos of the 17th century.These large instruments

were then considered thebasses of the violin family.Predecessor instruments in

similar tunings are found asearly as the mid- 16thcentury. Tuned in fifths like a

cello, their lowest stringwas often BBb, a step lower.

Improvement in strings,and the introduction of metal-wound C strings in the mid-

17th century, producedacceptable bass from shorterstring lengths, which in turn

allowed the cello to play moretechnically difficult parts.Makers responded to the

need for greater playability byreducing the size of the cellountil it was nearly the size of

a tenor.

A significant size

reduction was not withoutacoustic penalty, but a lossof some depth on the bottom

string and some power on thethird string was apparentlyacceptable in exchange for

greater brilliance andprojection on the top twostrings. The octet baritone,

with its larger dimensions,

once again provides an

instrument with equal poweron all four strings, but retainsa standard string length for

ease and facility of playing.

The large bass shown by

Praetorius, with its violin-likecorners and ff-holes, comesvery close in appearance to

the octet contrabass, but theinstrument seems to havemostly disappeared. In the

intervening years, the dutiesof the contrabass have beenassumed by the contrabass

viol, which is not even a violinat all. The old viol often hasbeen adapted to look more

like a violin, but with itssloping shoulders and flat,heavily-braced back,

acoustically it is still adifferent instrument.

Contrabasses of the pastcame in an assortment ofsizes and tunings, so it

should not be surprising thatthere are two basses in themodern octet. Both the small

bass and the big contrabassare constructed on the sameacoustical principals as all

the other octet instruments,and both new bassesproduce sounds never heard

before in their ranges.

The tuning of the small

bass (AA D G c) suits it forsolo work. The contrabass istuned the same as a double

bass viol (EE AA D G), butits violin-shaped shouldersclearly indicate it is a modern

violin, while its impressivesize allows low notes tospeak with great

resonance.

New Again, from p. 4

The New Violin Family Association, Inc. 42 Taylor Drive

Wolfeboro, NH 03894

IN THIS ISSUE

Hutchins Consort Plays . . . . . . . 1

Editorial Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Creating New Violins . . . . . . . . . 3

Octet History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Who's Playing and Where . . . . 6

Albert Consort, Events . . . . . . . 7

Generations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

New Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Composers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

NVFA Board Meeting . . . . . . . . . .11

Hutchins Archives at NMM . . . . . 12

CAS and VSA Merge . . . . . . . 14

NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION

U.S. POSTAGE PAID

PERMIT # 15

MIRROR LAKE, NH 03853

Visit us on the web!! http://www.newviolinfamily.org

Audio CDs of the New Violin Family instruments are available from the NVFA for $15 each plus S & H.

Please order by number and title and remit to the New Violin Family Association,

42 Taylor Drive, Wolfeboro, NH 03894.

Allow 4 - 6 weeks for delivery.

Instruments of the Violin Octet on Compact Discs

9801 St. Petersburg Violin Octet

9802 Grigori Sedukh, Treble Violin

2000 Yuletide, Grigori Sedukh

COMING SOON!!

The incomparable sound of the

Hutchins Consort is now available!

Can't wait? Order this CD online at

<www.hutchinsconsort .com>.

Proceeds benefit the Hutchins

Consort, a non-profit organization.

An historic CD of music written for

for the violin octet by Frank Lewin

and played by New York area

musicians. Available mid-February,

2004. Check our website for further

information.

hutchins consort performs at wolfeboro 1 corrected final of... · 2010. 2. 13. · saunders,...

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